After a year in which production in Ireland had stalled to avirtual standstill the last days of August and early September will see adramatic return to form.

First off the mark will be David T Friendly's Deep RiverProductions' The Honeymooners whichwill start shooting on August 27. The production for Paramount, co-producedwith Ireland's Hells Kitchen International, is based on the classic 1950sAmerican TV series of the same name.

Honeymooners willbe directed by John Schultz and the lead characters, played in the TV series byJackie Gleason and Art Carney, will be played by Cedric the Entertainer andMike Epps. An extensive trawl is underway in Ireland for extras of diverseethnic backgrounds to match the mix found in New York.

Friendly and Hells Kitchen International previously filmedIreland for the US in Laws Of Attractionfollowing on from Jim Sheridan's success in recreating New York in Dublin for In America.

On September 6 filming will commence on Neil Jordan'sadaptation of the Patrick McCabe novel BreakfastOn Pluto. A UK/Ireland co-production between Plan 9 and Parallel Films forPathe, Pluto is backed by the Irish Film Board and the Northern Ireland Film& Television Commission. Filming will take place in Dublin, Kilkenny,Northern Ireland and London.

Confirmed cast for the tale of a young transvestite fromrural Ireland on the make in London includes Cillian Murphy, in the lead roleof Patrick 'Kitten' Brady, together with Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson andJordan regular Stephen Rea. Cinematography will be by noted Irish-American DoPDeclan Quinn, working with Jordan for the first time.

Next up will be MaliceAforethought, a Granada production for ITV that starts shooting onSeptember 13. In addition to these three films there are a number of locallyoriginated productions which have provisional start dates into the Autumnperiod.

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